Illness is said to be keeping more Collingwood players off the track in the build-up to the King's Birthday clash, while Melbourne star Clayton Oliver is battling his own setback as he eyes a Round 13 return.
Oliver missed his side's last two matches against Fremantle and Carlton due to a hamstring injury, with the club confident their four-time best and fairest winner will be on the MCG for Monday's blockbuster matchup with the Magpies.
While Oliver's hamstring issue has been cleared for next week's game, the inside midfielder is battling an infected blister that kept him off the training track on Tuesday.
The Demons will be needing to keep an eye on their star onballer across the coming days, however remain hopeful Oliver will be available for the King's Birthday game.
“Clayton had a really successful reconditioning session on Saturday morning with the group,” Demons high-performance boss Selwyn Griffith said in a club injury update.
“Unfortunately, he has an infected blister, which prevented him from training today.
“We'll assess that day-to-day as we prep for our main training session on Friday.”
Melbourne are expected to welcome back Oliver and veteran defender Michael Hibberd (managed) to face the Magpies, with the latter likely replacing Jake Bowey, who suffered a concussion last week against the Blues.
Their Round 13 rivals, Collingwood, are also set to make several changes for the highly-anticipated encounter, with star midfielder Jordan De Goey ruled out for the next three games through suspension.
According to 7 News, the Pies are dealing with a bout of illness this week, with both De Goey and All-Australian defender Brayden Maynard understood to be affected.
Maynard has been away from the club in recent days but will remain in consideration for selection given the long turnaround to Monday's match.
Craig McRae could have Patrick Lipinski (shoulder), Jamie Elliott (shoulder) and Dan McStay (finger) available for returns to face the Demons, while Beau McCreery (ankle) and Will Hoskin-Elliott (ankle) are both seen to be in the mix despite injuries sustained last week against West Coast.
McRae confirmed on Wednesday that the club has been battling an illness for several weeks, while the likes of Lipisnki and Elliott are in the mix.
"Looks like Patty Lipinski is available this week," McRae told reporters. "Jamie might be available. We'll have to wait and see what the week looks like.
"(Lipinski) is our best runner, he is our highest GPS runner. He's in our best 22, he's so important the way he transitions and connects.
"We've had a bit of virus. I had it last week. Nearly the whole club got it for a three-week period. You can't stop everything, if you've got anything you aren't coming in (to the club) at all."
While the Magpies will welcome back a handful of reinforcements for the King's Birthday clash, McRae knew the task at hand wasn't going to be an easy ride.
The ladder leaders have hardly put a foot wrong in 2023, but the Demons are anticipated to push the premiership favourites to the end.
"Typical Demons team, that's really hard to play against," McRae said. "We know what we are in for.
"We are gonna have to fight for every contest."
Monday will also see the Big Freeze for Fight MND take place before the opening bounce, with a host of sliders already confirmed for the event.
Fight MND campaign director Bec Daniher told reporters Monday's proceedings were their own season's peak.
"This is grand final week for Fight MND," Bec said
"It's our opportunity to show everyone out there that is battling against the beast that there is an army supporting them.
"When we look around the ground and see all the blue beanies, I'm so inspired by that."
Squads for the match will be announced on Sunday night at 6:20pm (AEST), with the game to commence at 3:20pm the following day.
